Jillian Lake is a Canadian singer on the verge of her big break. She should be gearing up for her big tour and her concert with Billy Raffoul, but in lieu of COVID-19, she’s hunkered down in Alberta, Canada. Between baking excessive pies and twiddling her thumbs, she’s dropping singles to scratch the lonely itch deep in your heart and prove this pandemic won’t muffle her song.
She’s an artist who isn’t afraid to rip open her soul, invite you in, and offer a nostalgic baked good that takes you back to the coziest corners of home. Her lyrics speak like an empathetic friend who always knows what to say. In her previous EP, Honey, she proved her chops with powerfully soft vocals and ethereal rhythm. Her single, “Oliver,” blends heartache with horseplay to reveal the grey area of lost love.
Her newest single, “Bleed Baby Bleed,” comes out tomorrow. The song debuts a completely stripped-down version of the musician’s vulnerability through an emotional story that you can’t help but interpret as your own.
“I’ve always really valued feelings and being vulnerable, but it’s an everyday battle reminding myself that those things are okay because there so many people who guard that,” Lake said, “I’ve been hurt before for being too vulnerable, but I still have to remind myself that’s who I want to be because I find so much strength in that.”
“For me, it’s about a release or a surrender. It’s about just letting those feelings drip out of you, fall out of you, pour out of you and not stopping the flow of that emotion,” Lake references the metaphorical “bleeding” in her song, “It’s a way of cradling yourself and letting yourself just feel exactly how you feel.” Her big feelings and creamy vocals make the song feel like the spilled milk you’re finally allowed to cry over.
Her lyrics paint a portrait of her life after moving to a big city. Captivated by the nightlife and swept up in toxic relationships, Lake thought she was having fun until she began writing. “When I write music it’s this weird way of figuring out how I’m feeling before I even realize it. So I sat down to write it and these words started coming out and I actually realized how confused and lost I was.” Lake reflected.
After her realization, Lake began cutting out the things in life that weren’t “good” and refilling it with inspiration. Now, the personal meaning behind the song has changed and she’s rewritten her past as a learning experience. “I think it’s cool to recognize all of those feelings as useful and to not run away from those things but just welcome them, feel them, work through them and then come out on the other end,” Lake said.
Her goal as a musician “has always just been to make people feel things” and with “Bleed Baby Bleed” that’s exactly what she does. Be sure to listen to her new single on popular streaming platforms April 17th and warm yourself by the hearth of her refreshing emotional honesty.
